In March 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued important instructions that rural roads should be "built well, managed well, maintained well, and operated well." Over the past decade, the "Four Good Rural Roads" initiative has been accelerated. All townships and administrative villages in China with the necessary conditions have gained access to hardened roads, passenger transport, and postal services, paving a road to prosperity for the people and providing strong support for Chinese-style modernization.

In recent days, the road from Xiading Township to Beikengshan Village in Ningde, Fujian, is being urgently widened from 4.5 meters to 6.5 meters.

Wu Guanqian, Party Secretary of Xiading Township, Shouning County, Ningde City, Fujian Province: The original 4.5-meter road can no longer accommodate tourist buses passing each other. Rural roads are being upgraded from single to double lanes, making transportation more convenient. The well-connected rural roads are our road to prosperity and revitalization.

Xiading Township once suffered from the saying "Cart Ridge carts climb to the sky, Nine Ridges take nine years to climb," but now five township-access roads and ten village-access roads have been built. This not only facilitates travel for the people but also forms a beautiful scenic route.

Focusing on the development requirements of the new era, in 2014 General Secretary Xi Jinping creatively proposed the development strategy of building, managing, maintaining, and operating rural roads well, and personally guided and promoted rural roads across the country into a new stage of comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development in construction, management, maintenance, and operation. In 2017, General Secretary Xi Jinping once again emphasized that from the height of implementing the rural revitalization strategy, we should further deepen our understanding of the importance of building rural roads, and provide better guarantees for farmers to prosper and for accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

Recently, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued important instructions on further advancing the construction of "Four Good Rural Roads." He emphasized that in the new era and on the new journey, we must make sustained efforts and work tirelessly over time, further improve policies and regulations, enhance governance capacity, implement a new round of rural road upgrading actions, and continue to promote the high-quality development of "Four Good Rural Roads."

Wang Gang, Vice Minister of Transport: General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions have pointed out the direction and provided fundamental guidance for the high-quality development of "Four Good Rural Roads" in the new era and on the new journey. We must study and comprehend them deeply, resolutely implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, improve the safety protection and governance capacity of rural roads, accelerate the integration of urban and rural transport services, enhance the level of infrastructure services, and provide strong service guarantees for advancing Chinese-style modernization.

Over the past decade, rural road construction has achieved remarkable results, becoming roads to prosperity, happiness, connection, and revitalization at the doorsteps of the people. In Shanxi, the Yellow River No. 1, Great Wall No. 1, and Taihang No. 1 rural roads have "connected" all 113 counties and nearly a thousand tourist attractions and tourism resource sites across the province. After all are completed and opened to traffic by the end of the year, about 200,000 people along the routes will be able to find employment at their doorsteps through various means.

Over the past decade, rural roads have achieved historic accomplishments. A cumulative total of 4.2 trillion yuan has been invested in rural road construction, and approximately 2.5 million kilometers of rural roads have been newly built or reconstructed. By the end of 2023, the total mileage of rural roads had grown from 3.8816 million kilometers at the end of 2014 to 4.6 million kilometers. The coverage, accessibility depth, management and maintenance level, service capacity, and quality and safety of rural roads have significantly improved.

The "Four Good Rural Roads" build roads, but what they change is the face of rural areas. Over the past decade, they have provided strong guarantees for promoting rural development, increasing agricultural efficiency, raising farmers' incomes, and solidly advancing comprehensive rural revitalization. In Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi, after the village was connected by road, local agricultural specialty products have been sold across the country through express delivery.

Peng Deliang, a villager of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan City, Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province: There are more and more tourists, and many of them buy our products, which has greatly increased our income.

Today, "Four Good Rural Roads" are steadily advancing toward high-quality development. In Zhejiang, local pilots are using smart-connected maintenance electric bicycles for rural road patrols. Data recorded by cameras can be transmitted in real time to the comprehensive transport information command center. Wherever there are cracks or damage, the AI computer automatically identifies them and reminds for timely maintenance.

Cai Hong, Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Transport: All 100,000 kilometers of rural roads in Zhejiang have achieved full coverage of "digital archives," making our maintenance decisions more scientific, fund supervision more transparent, and management more refined.

Make sustained efforts and work tirelessly over time. This year, China will also newly build and reconstruct 122,000 kilometers of rural roads, add 328 townships connected by Class III or above roads, and add 16,700 larger natural villages (groups) with hardened road access. It is expected that by 2035, the high-quality development pattern of "Four Good Rural Roads" will basically take shape, with total mileage stabilizing at around 5 million kilometers.

Zhou Rongfeng, Director of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport: Next, we will advance a new round of rural road construction and upgrading, continuously improve the rural road network and service facilities along the routes, further enhance the safety protection level and transport service capacity of rural roads, and continue to promote the high-quality development of "Four Good Rural Roads."